Roblox Robot Wars Arena
The Roblox Robot Wars Arena was a square battleground measuring 148 studs by 148 studs that made its debut in the First Roblox War. The arena was surrounded by a large square box; at the back of which were the 'Pits', where the battling robots would enter the arena from. The First Roblox War The arena in the First Roblox War was basic and had an open pit at the furthest end. A flame pit was situated at the side of the arena and would set fire to flammable materials - the most notable example being the football. The pit led onto a conveyor which surrounded the arena: this was used to transport pitted or OOTA'd robots back into the pits. The border of the arena was decorated with hazard markings, with each corner panel having a red border. The arena was used for the Arena stages, the Sumo stages (where a large grey circular platform was used in the arena) and the Football stages (where two goals and a pit cover were used), and appeared in all 62 First War battles. The setup of the First Roblox War arena was so basic that, in order to get into the arena, robots had to drive up a conveyor belt ramp and over the wall, instead of through a gate like subsequent arenas. This meant that it was entirely possible for a robot to be thrown OOTA here, land on the ramp and come back into the arena, but this never happened in the First Roblox War arena. Sumo Ensemble For the Sumo side competition, most of the arena was dominated by a raised circular platform eighty studs in diameter and eight studs deep. Joining the platform to the entrance was an extended ramp, so competitors could more easily reach the top of the platform. Briefly at the beginning of the competition, a cover for the pit was included with the ensemble but was removed for unknown reasons. The cover was the same as the one used in Football. Throughout the series, the sumo ring saw two incarnations: the first of these was a simple grey platform with the edges given a dirty look, as if tyres had struggled to grip and left rubber marks there; the second was cleaner and three coloured circles broke up the grey surface, one in red, one in orange and one in yellow, each smaller than the first, giving the sumo ring the look of a target. Football Ensemble At either side of the arena in the Football side competition were two yellow goals, twenty six studs wide, fifteen studs high and fourteen studs deep with a sloping back. A red and black cover sealed the pit to prevent competitors - but especially, the ball - from escaping. In the four corners were deflecting wedges that stopped the ball from becoming trapped in the corners of the arena, and later in the competition grey blocks were placed behind the goals to prevent the ball from becoming stuck there, as had happened in one match. The ball started the match inbetween the two goals. The First Extreme Wars The arena was upgraded for the First Extreme Wars with a descending pit instead of an open one, now activated by a tyre on the wall, like the real arena in the real Robot Wars. The main feature this time around, however, was a large flipper slightly larger than the pit, located diagonally opposite. The arena itself was redecorated to resemble the real arena more closely, and the arena walls were raised slightly. The Extreme arena was also the first arena where robots entered through a gate, rather than jumping over the wall. The Extreme arena was used in all filmed Extreme battles, with the only change throughout the series being the infrequent deactivation of the Flame Pit. Despite being the focal point of the arena this time around, the Floor Flipper was rarely used in Extreme, and had little effect when used. It did, however, pose as the deciding factor in a Vengeance match when Corneliouse The Great drove under the open flipper and became beached in the hole. The closing flipper immobilsed Corneliouse, giving Intoxicated Alligator the victory. How the Floor Flipper activated was unknown. Briefly towards the end of Extreme, a large crusher was installed in the centre of the arena, specifically for the destruction of certain robots outside of battle for roboteers to relieve their stress. The Extreme arena was modified further for the Second Roblox War, with major modifications including the Drop Zone, angle grinders and the 'cherry pickers' being divided once again. Steam jets were added but later removed to prevent unnecessary lag. Robot Wars: League The Robot Wars: League arena reverted to the darker aesthetic of the First Roblox Wars arena, but with the pit and flipper - albeit heavily upgraded - of the Extreme arena and the drop zone of the intended Second War arena. Dynamic lighting was also incorporated this time around for atmosphere and minor upgrades included having the wall and floor parts overlap to prevent chance of robots getting jammed inbetween bricks. The decoration of the arena floor changed once again, opting instead for BrickColor meshes over the decals of the previous two arenas. As a result, instead of the hazard stripe panels used in the First War and Extreme arenas, the Pit had horizontal stripes and the Floor Flipper had a criss-cross pattern, making the two more distinguishable. Any textures that were used, such as those on the CPZs, Disc of Doom and release or activation tyre bumpers, used BrickColors and simple geometric shapes for a more clean and Roblox-esque feel. Further into planning came new 'out of bounds' rules and the lights around the arena perimeter were modified to detect robots who were flung OOTA; upon doing so, the lights along that edge would turn red. With Sumo and Pinball running as side competitions to the League, the arena also appeared with a pinball course (as shown in the Pinball article) and a sumo ring not unlike that of the First Roblox War. Special Events The arena saw two major modifications during planning for the League's special events episode, both following roboteers' criticism of the arena. The first of these was the removal of the Disc of Doom, as it had been rarely effective during the League and had, as a result of Roblox physics, glitched and occasionally ruined recordings. The second change saw the arena brought further away from the back wall to prevent any controversy with robots being thrown out and managing to flip or rebound back into the arena. Work on the Floor Flipper and Disc of Doom began in an attempt to improve and fix them, although neither had featured to any great extent yet. Aftermath With the increase in the number of flippers entered and their overuse in comparison to lesser weapons, the arena was upgraded to make the feat of throwing a robot out of the arena slightly more challenging through raising the walls for a third time since the First Roblox War. The Disc of Doom, after being rebuilt from scratch to run on a different mechanism, was reinstated for testing during the unofficial competitions. Arena Hazards *Arena Pit/Pit Of Oblivion﻿ The Arena Pit featured in all incarnations of the arena; in the First Roblox War, the pit was square and open throughout the Arena battles. From the First Extreme Wars onwards, the pit became more rectangular and was opened by a pit release tyre along the back wall. In the First Roblox War, the pit took 15 victims, either pitted by their opponent or by themselves. When a robot went into the pit, an explosion would send smoke into the air. During the First Roblox War, the Pit sent robots on a conveyor belt through to 'Ootaland' in the Pits; in many First Roblox War battles, the defeated robot could be seen sliding along the side of the arena and under an open panel in the diorama. *Flame Pit﻿/Flame Grille While not damaging, the Flame Pit produced lighting in the arena, especially when flammable robots drove over it. The Flame Pit set fire to few robots - most notably Clawspike - but the First Roblox War football was burnt to a crisp on several occasions. The Flame Pit made its debut in the First Roblox War, and was briefly installed in the Extreme arena; it was later removed in an attempt to prevent lag, alongside other measures and precautions. The Flame Grille returned for Robot Wars: League, but was made easier to turn on and off in case of lag issues. *Arena Perimeter The arena perimeter was never considered a hazard on its own, but all that stops robots from being sent out of bounds is the arena wall which, while present on all incarnations of the arena, varied in height and aesthetic. The first major upgrade to the arena perimeter came with the Robot Wars: League arena, where new lights were added to detect any robots who were sent out of the arena - once they had, they would glow bright red. *Floor Flipper﻿ The Floor Flipper made its debut in the First Extreme Wars, and was capable of throwing up to 300 sgs about 20 studs. During testing, it managed to flip the likes of Skiddeh and Storm Hound high enough for them to land on the canopy roofs. Ultimately, due to what became of Extreme, the Floor Flipper was rarely seen in action. For Robot Wars: League, the Floor Flipper's power was increased, and later into planning was rebuilt almost entirely. The rebuild fixed the Extreme flipper's main problems, not only making the Floor Flipper more sturdy and resistant to the strains of being activated but also closed off the hole in the arena floor where the flipper emerged, preventing robots from being allowed to drive under and potentially become stranded. *Stress Relief/Crusher This was a large and very heavy platform which moved slowly up and down in the centre of the arena, intending on 'crushing' robots who got caught underneath it. The Crusher was installed in the Extreme arena for only a brief length of time, as it had not been intended for use as a permanent fixture in the competition. As such, the Crusher was never seen in any broadcast battle, but is visible in archive footage from August 2011. *Drop Zone The Drop Zone made its debut in the Second Roblox War arena, and was located in the centre of the arena. The Drop Zone would release an oven and several bowling balls onto the panel below, where an immobile robot would be waiting. The Drop Zone, although removed from the surviving remains of the Second Roblox War arena, was reinstalled for Robot Wars: League. *Disc of Doom The Disc of Doom, based on the floor spinner seen in The Sixth Wars and Extreme 2, was installed for Robot Wars: League, activated by a tyre on the wall nearby. Upon activation, the disc would begin to spin at high speed for several seconds, throwing robots aside and changing their direction if it was driven onto. As with most high-powered motorised objects in Roblox Robot Wars, the Disc of Doom caused several issues of glitching during practice, sometimes simply by vibrating harshly throughout battles or, in extreme cases, throwing robots over great distances, perhaps even immobilising them or throwing them out of the arena. The Disc was removed for the special events but reinstated for the unrecorded competitions that followed. The Fate Of The Arena The intended Second Roblox War arena remained open to the public for some time, albeit with the Drop Zone removed completely, making the arena appear more like the Extreme arena. The First Roblox War arena had been developed for use in Bradley's competition not long after the end of the First Roblox War; similarly, the Extreme arena was heavily modified for use in WTLNetwork's competition. In 2014, WTL's modified version of the Extreme arena was opened to the public, allowing players to drive robots and operate the arena controls. WTLNetwork eventually credited Jonateer for the arena in the description of the place to let people know that the arena was built by Jonateer. Furthermore, the Extreme arena was somehow leaked and came into the possession of David Parker-Quaife, who intended to use it for his own 'robloxina roaming robots' competition. The competition failed to surface. The actual First Roblox War arena, however, remains intact and is still set up for the Football final (the last battle filmed in the arena) and was re-opened to the public as a 'place of pilgrimage' until the BC scandal of May 2013. The original Roblox place file remains on Jon's drive, unedited since June 2011. The only other original arena to survive intact on Jon's drive is the Second Roblox War arena as last modified, while the Extreme arena remained open but forgotten about for years on an alt account, set up for a battle between Public Nuisance Mk V and Intoxicated Alligator. Trivia and Interesting Stuff *The arena started life as a very simple build for mosher100's January 2011 competition. For The First Roblox War, the arena was almost entirely rebuilt, with one of the only similarities between the two being the positioning of the 'cherry pickers'. The original arena can be seen in the gallery below. *During the First Roblox War, the only control in the camera booth - the central 'cherry picker' - was to start the battle. In Extreme, two more buttons were added - one to raise the Pit, and one to fire the Floor Flipper. For Robot Wars: League, another three buttons were added - one to turn the Flame Grille on and off, one to activate the Drop Zone and one to reset the Out Of Bounds lights. Another button would also be used during League to activate the pinball counter. Gallery The Furthest.jpg|The very first incarnation (January 2011) flamepit.png|The First Roblox War flame pit having effect (Heat A) pod.png|The camera booth from The First Roblox War (April 2011) sumo1.png|The first variation of the First Roblox War Sumo ring (Heat A) sumo2.png|The second variation of the First Roblox War Sumo ring (Heat A) footballsetup.png|Overlooking the First War Football setup (May 2011) Testing Flipper 1.jpg|Extreme flipper testing (April 2011) - note the steam vents and angle grinders Category:Robot Wars